ZIMBABWE’S largest health institution, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, is facing a severe crisis due to a crippling shortage of essential drugs and medical equipment, putting millions of lives at risk as most patients cannot access private medical care, the Zimbabwe Independent reports.
A survey of the country's major hospitals this week exposed the grim reality confronting the sick. Many patients waited in agony in long queues, only to be directed to buy medicine from private pharmacies.
One doctor revealed that they have been forced to help patients buy life-saving medicines due to the gravity of the crisis.
Parirenyatwa has long been plagued by a lack of medical supplies, equipment, and essential tools. The hospital has also been severely impacted by the mass departure of medical staff prompted by Zimbabwe's economic troubles.
Both staff and patients reported that the situation had worsened in recent months, with falling standards severely affecting those in urgent need of medical treatment.
Inside sources disclosed that the hospital is struggling to provide essential items such as gloves, syringes, and other equipment, hampering staff's ability to perform their duties. Investigations also revealed that hospital authorities have warned staff not to divulge any information about the crisis.
“It has become a nightmare for us as staff who work at Parirenyatwa,” said one source, who preferred anonymity.
“There are serious shortages of medication, needles, syringes, cotton, alcohol (medicinal), methylated spirit, sodium hypochlorite, and sometimes even latex gloves and stationary.
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“For example, the lift linking the ground floor to the third floor is frequently out of order, forcing us to carry patients up the ramp. It is torture. The lift gets fixed but only works for a few days.
“Authorities have warned us not to speak out, but remaining silent affects our patients, who come with various illnesses,” she added.
Parirenyatwa's public relations manager, Terrence Mautsi, acknowledged the difficulties, attributing them to supplier shortages.
“Indeed, we have been having erratic supplies due to shortages from our suppliers,” Mautsi said this week.
“This is a national problem affecting all public hospitals in the country. As the largest referral centre, Parirenyatwa is the most affected because we offer the widest spectrum of specialist services in the country.
“That being said, we continue to provide services, with patients being given prescriptions for medicines and supplies that are in short supply after being seen by our doctors.”
The critical equipment breakdowns and lack of resources are severely limiting Parirenyatwa’s ability to provide adequate cancer treatment.
Last May, NewsDay reported that a vital machine for early breast cancer detection at Parirenyatwa broke down 15 years ago, highlighting the challenges facing its cancer treatment unit.
Parirenyatwa's chief medical officer, Tsitsi Magure, told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health that they were unable to offer pap smears due to lack of laboratory support.
“Our own mammography machine has been down for more than 15 years, and we have not been able to replace it,” Magure said.
Mammography is an X-ray imaging method used to examine the breast for early detection of cancer and other breast diseases.
Magure also stated: “We have three radiotherapy machines which are very old and they are due for replacement. We have one machine which treats cervical cancer.
“Unfortunately all these three radiotherapy machines are not working and we have not been able to offer radiotherapy in our unit.”
Poor remuneration has led to a mass exodus of medical personnel, particularly to Britain, Canada, the United States, and South Africa, where pay and conditions are more attractive. National strikes by Zimbabwe’s government hospital doctors had become an almost annual tradition, often lasting several months.
The crisis comes as Zimbabwe continues to experience economic downturns, despite promises by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to revitalise the economy after replacing the late former president Robert Mugabe.
The cost of living has soared due to rampant hyperinflation, while stagnant salaries, currency instability, foreign currency and basic commodities shortages, such as electricity and water have left many Zimbabweans struggling.
The health sector has not been spared.
The serious shortage of vital drugs has often plagued Zimbabwe’s public health system, triggering fears of a disaster as chronic patients end up abandoning prescribed medications.
The government has been warned for decades about the dire effects of neglecting the health delivery system, which was once a regional pride. Desperate patients, many unemployed due to de-industrialisation, are forced to seek expensive private healthcare, which few can afford.
In 1985, the World Health Organisation declared Zimbabwe’s healthcare system among the best in the developing world.
However, years of underfunding, poor working conditions, and high levels of brain drain have reversed most of these gains, with many healthcare workers, including doctors, leaving the country.
Itai Rusike, executive director at the Community Working Group on Health, lamented the decline of a once-flourishing health system.
He said this had been exacerbated by the massive exodus of health care workers.
“The current situation is such that the capacity of public health facilities to screen, diagnose and manage the communicable and non-communicable diseases and conditions (diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular conditions, injuries, cancer, mental health) through the training of health care workers, procurement of diagnostic equipment and consumables (is compromised),” Rusike said this week.
“Advocacy towards healthy lifestyles has declined to all time low levels and remains weak in this challenged health delivery system.
“Meanwhile the country has set itself to regain the glory of yesteryear by setting very ambitious 2030 goals for its development, and should these be realised, the right decisions have to be made now and the right actions and road map defined for attainment of these targets.
“Given the nation's resilience and previous successes, we vouch that it is indeed possible to regain our health leadership position by turning the health and social sector around through revitalising the implementation of Primary Health Care for Universal Health Coverage, using a whole of society approach as enshrined in the nation's Constitution,” he added.
